AndijanHistory, monuments and pictures of Andijan

Andijan is a city and administrative center in far eastern Uzbekistan in Andijan province, is situated in the Southeast of the Ferghana Valley and is surrounded by high mountains and hills. Andijan is about 475 km east of Tashkent, and about 45 km west of Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Andijan is a center of oil production and has a few oil refineries. Cotton growing and processing remain the dominant economic activities.

The history of the city goes back to the 9th century AD. In ancient times the Great Silk Road passed through this town, which was known as the eastern gate of the Ferghana Valley. In the 10th century Andijan was the part of the Samanids Empire. In 1483 Zaheruddin Babur was born here, and Andijan became the capital of the Ferghana State and its major Silk Road trading center. Later Babur had to go to Afghanistan and he ruled Kabul for two decades, then in 1526 he marched into Delhi and founded the Mughal Empire in India. The dynasty of the Babur's had ruled India for more than 300 years.

In the 18th and 19th cc. Andijan was a part of the Kokand khanate (state) was centered in present-day Kokand. In 1876 Andijan was captured by Russian forces.

The Fergana Valley's last local rebellion against the rule of the Russian Tsar took place at Andijan in 1898. An earthquake destroyed most of the old part of the city in 1902, killing more than 4000 people.

The Babur Literary Museum - is situated behind the bazaar, occupying the site of the royal apartments, where Babur lived and studied in Ark-Ichi, the town's citadel that exists no more. The museum opened in 1989 on the site of his residence, in celebration of the 460th year of publication of his autobiography entitled Baburname, published in English as the Memoirs of Babur. Andijan also has teacher-training, medical, and cotton-growing institutes.

Historical and architectural monuments of Andijan

Juma Mosque and Madrassah - built in the 19th century, is said to be the only building to survive the 1902 earthquake;